Seven killed in fresh Israeli attacks in Lebanon

Five people, including a child, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported on Sunday.

Two Palestinians were killed in a separate attack near the southern coastal city of Tyre, the NNA reported. The Israeli military said it was not aware of any strikes conducted by its forces overnight.

The continuing clashes in Lebanon are casting a shadow over talks in Switzerland between top US and Iranian negotiators.

According to Lebanese security sources, Israeli ground forces are closely monitoring a strategically significant hill near Nabatiyeh to the north-east of Tyre where they have not seized control.

The sources report that fighters of the Hezbollah militia and commanders from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are concealed there.

By contrast, Israel's ynet news website reports that the Israeli military does in fact control the area.

The hill is said to house a fortified underground base constructed with Iranian support that forms one of the most important Hezbollah command-and-control centres in southern Lebanon. Dozens of Hezbollah fighters are said to be concealed there.

Hezbollah has denied these reports to the Al Jazeera news broadcaster, saying that the Israeli military is using them to boost morale after Israeli forces failed to seize the hill. Three weeks ago, Israeli forces seized the nearby Beaufort Castle, a fortification dating back to the 12th century.

There have been repeated clashes in the region. Four Israeli soldiers died recently in an attack on their tank.

Israel has accused Hezbollah of repeated violations of the current ceasefire agreed between the United States and Iran. Israeli forces have responded to the violations, jeopardizing the wider ceasefire.

According to official reports, more than 4,000 people have been killed and more than 12,000 have been injured in the conflict in Lebanon since the beginning of March.